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Scarcity mindset

why do I make bad money decisions when broke

Scarcity is a mode of thinking produced by not having enough, which narrows attention onto the immediate shortfall and reduces the mental bandwidth available for long-range decisions. It is a consequence of conditions, not a personal failing.

What to do about it

Automate one long-range decision so it stops competing with today's shortage for attention.

How people say it

Nobody looks this up by its clinical name. These are the ways it actually gets said.

  • I cannot think past this month
  • money stress makes me stupid
  • always in survival mode financially
  • why do I make bad money decisions when broke
  • cannot plan ahead
  • scarcity mindset money

Written by Brian Spiker, who has run Spiker Carpet and Tile Care since 2013 — the receipts. More terms in the encyclopedia.

About the author

Brian Spiker has run Spiker Carpet and Tile Care since 2013 — a real service business with real customers, real Google reviews, and 13 years of work most self-help authors will never do.

He writes the way operators talk: brutal, funny, and built from work that actually has to get done. Verify everything at spikercarpetandtilecare.com.